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Dan and Nick’s insights overlap in a few areas that are meaningful to me. The strength of this Denver team is their defense. And the strength of the Denver defense is their pressure. Sound familiar? Maybe this is why the O/U is so low at 39 pts. If you consider a 7 pt spread, that implies a final score of 23-16. So let’s reverse engineer this- How do the Giants get held to 16 points? The answer is a lot of Defensive pressure leading to Dart being frustrated in not being able to execute the Offense.
My answer is a repeat of the 2008 posts I made (sadly unavailable, a story for another day): how to beat the pressure of Jim Johnson. Johnson was the Defensive Coordinator of the Eagles who used to bring a lot of pressure on Eli Manning. The result was a loss at the tail end of an otherwise great season (the most regular season wins since [the 2000 Super Bowl season, also 12] 1990’s 13-3 Super Bowl winning season) + a quick loss in the playoffs. That season still bothers me because of the underachievement. They did not make the adjustments to pressure.
Dan Schneier alludes to the answer when he briefly mentions the screen. It’s one of the best ways to beat (OR AT LEAST SLOW DOWN) pressure. Think of it as a limit. If you are the Offensive Coordinator and run a screen literally every single play, you’d have zero pressures and zero sacks. Now of course that’s not an answer either, because eventually the Defensive Line will stop pass rushing. But that’s the point of the screen. AND QUICK GAME (Flares, Slants, Draws, Max Protects, Design rollouts, TE mid screens etc). Slow down the pressure. Provide consequences to DLmen going full speed at your QB.
The answer to a lot of pressure is to run not 1 screen but ~4 screens sprinkled during the game. This how coaches help their players. With all due respect to Carl Banks, yes, players need to do their jobs and be accountable on the field… but coaches have to be accountable too… in this case helping their players by putting them in a situation to win. Brian Burns on Bowen last week:
“Shane called a great game. He mixed it up. A lot of simulated (pressures). He changed the picture for Jalen. Made him hold the ball and gave us opportunities to get after the ball.”
Kafka needs to use a decent amount of quick game with liberal use of the screen/flare etc to counteract the strength of the Denver defense. This will (figuratively and literally) take the pressure off of Dart and the OL.
The Giants need to execute. If you can’t successfully move the ball with the quick game, that won’t help. I’d love a couple of plays where Bonitto, who is known for his speed rush, “beats” Thomas/Eluemunor, only to have the play run through the B gap or allow those Tackles to get upfield and provide blocks downfield. Eluemunor said he’s happy he’s being used more in pulling. Let’s go. With 10 days off, use that time to put more of these plays into the offense. And please, practice makes perfect on Screen execution. There may not be a better example of an 11 person ballet than watching good (and bad) screen execution.
The 5 best receiver options on this team are Bellinger, Johnson, Robinson, Skattebo and Tracy. Use them liberally. Hell, use them in a heavy package 21 12 or even 22 personnel. Remember the success when we called for 12 personnel vs New Orleans and the Giants used TE for 5 receptions (including 2 TDs) in the first two drives? More of that please. RB screens, TE screens, RB flares, TE flares. Use your assets.
Use Evan Neal. For one series, he’ll provide good run blocking and then you run a screen where he gets “beat” but now he’s blocking downfield for his running back, who gets sprung for a big gain.